The Senate Transportation Committee has voted to shut down Twin Cities' ramp
meters for a one-month study of their effectiveness. The measure is part of a
so-called "Freedom to Drive" agenda pushed by Republican Minority Leader Dick
Day. A measure to ticket drivers who hold up traffic in the left lane of
Minnesota freeways also won committee approval.

THE STATE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT
claims ramp meters prevent about 1,500
crashes per year by regulating the traffic flow onto freeways, but Republican
Senator Dick Day calls the miniature traffic lights an annoyance put into place
with little forethought or oversight.

Day: With a two-week study in 1969 and 1970, the Department of Transportation put
in their first ramp meter. We've now got over 420 of them, we've spent $68
million and I would daresay there is not anybody on this committee
that's ever even voted for or known where they're going in or what they're doing
or what they aren't doing.

The transportation department's Tim Worke agrees that no one likes
waiting at ramp meters. But the agency says the meters actually increase
capacity and speeds on Twin Cities freeways. Worke says turning ramp meters off
won't help alleviate traffic. The real solution, he says, is Governor Jesse
Ventura's proposal to spent $184 million dollars to expand transit options and
address the most congested areas.

Worke: We are excited at the department that we have a governor that believes
it's time to do something about the problems we're experiencing in travel in our
state and in our metropolitan area. And to that end the governor's proposal
proposes a substantial investment in bottleneck removals and the like.

The transportation committee approved on a voice vote turning off the meters for
a one-month study next October. The transportation department would report its
results back to legislators.

The committee also approved on a voice vote a
measure to make driving in the left lane without passing a petty misdemeanor,
eligible for a ticket and fine up to $200. Don Dame, a mechanical engineer
living in Woodbury, says he came to the Capitol to show support for Day's
package, especially that bill.

Dame: The main one is to get the slowpokes out of the left lane. The trouble I
have with that is the people who are trying to pass and cannot, they drive
aggressively, they cause road rage, and I guess my feeling is if we want to
reduce the fatalities we should get the slowpokes out of the left lane and let
the highway patrol stop the fast drivers.

"You're going to get in your car and put on your racing cap and put a big
stogie in your mouth and you got a cooler of beer in the back and you're driving
the Explorer and you get to other states and you think, 'If I could only move
through Minneapolis-St. Paul like this, I'd have it made.'"

- Dean Johnson
DFL Senator

The committee rejected one of Day's proposal - to raise the speed limit on I-35
East from 45 to 55 miles an hour in St. Paul. Day claimed motorists are breaking
the limit anyway, making slow drivers the hazard. The lower limit is the result
of a legal settlement between the state and the city of St. Paul, and St. Paul
officials say raising it would likely invite new litigation. Day's traffic
proposals go to the transportation budget committee , where they face a hostile
chairman in DFL Senator Dean Johnson.

Johnson: You're going to get in your car and put on your racing cap and put a big
stogie in your mouth and you got a cooler of beer in the back and you're driving
the Explorer and you get to other states and you think, "If I could only move
through Minneapolis-St. Paul like this, I'd have it made."

Johnson said he'd like to examine alternatives to easing congestion besides
increasing the rights of solo drivers. Day said he supports mass transit. But he
candidly admitted that addressing traffic congestion has become an issue for his
caucus as it seeks to woo suburban voters.

Day: Our battleground whether we like it or not is the suburbs and the suburbs
are people who get in and drive back and forth and I'm saying whoa; that's
where actually most of my senators represent, are the suburbs or greater
Minnesota.

In addition to the two proposals approved by the transportation committee, the
budget division will consider Day's proposals to allow solo drivers in high
occupancy vehicle lanes at peak hours and to cut license tab fees by 20 percent.